Taliban's stunning, lightning advance in Afghanistan continues

The Taliban have captured another three provincial capitals in southern Afghanistan, including in Helmand, the scene of some of the heaviest fighting in the past two decades, as the insurgents press a lightning offensive that is gradually encircling the capital, Kabul.

And the United Nations is warning that a "humanitarian catastrophe" may be emerging in Afghanistan as civilians flee the oncoming Taliban. The loss of Helmand's provincial capital comes after years of toil and blood spilled by American, British and allied NATO forces. Hundreds of foreign troops were killed there over the course of the nearly two-decade war.